It’s time for our annual list of the top stories of the year on Iceland Review Online.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, four of the top ten stories of 2014 were about volcanic eruptions, three about the ongoing Holuhraun eruption.
However, the story of a ten-year-old Icelandic girl, Harriet Cardew, who was denied a passport as her name had not been accepted by the Icelandic Naming Committee, took the top spot after being picked up by the international media. She was later issued an emergency passport so her family could continue with their travel plans.
The case of another Icelandic girl, Blær Bjarkardóttir, who took her fight to have her name officially recognized to court and won, was the third most popular news item on Iceland Review Online in 2013.
Also among the Top 10 is a travel video of Reykjavík taken in 1926 and a story about Lagarfljótsormurinn, the giant serpent rumored to inhabit the lake Lagarfljót near Egilsstaðir in East Iceland. A 13-person truth commission established in 2012 by the local municipal council determined that a video of the alleged monster shot by Hjörtur E. Kjerúlf, which went viral, was authentic and that he was entitled to a prize of ISK 500,000 (USD 4,300, EUR 3,300).
The story about Papa John’s pizzeria in Ben Stiller’s film The Secret Life of Walter Mitty—which was filmed in Iceland—being chosen as one of the worst cases of latent advertising last year by Brandchannel came in sixth place, while two stories about the welfare of Icelandic horses on our German version, Iceland Review Online – Deutsch, were also among the Top 10 news stories this year.
Here is the full list of the Top 10 news stories of 2014:
1. Icelandic Girl Denied Passport Due to “Illegal” Name
2. Reykjavík in the Year 1926 (High Quality Video)
3. Watch the Eruption Live (If and When it Starts)
4. Upcoming Eruption in Iceland’s Vatnajökull?
5. Breaking News: Eruption Started in Dyngjujökull Glacier
6. Papa John’s in Walter Mitty “Worst Product Placement”
7. Truth Commission: Lake Monster Does Exist
8. Hekla Volcano “Could Erupt Soon”
